Building-block.



0. C. SGHWARZ.

BU L ING B APPLIGAT FILED .11, 1912.

1,131,740, Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

THE NORRIS PETERS m. PHWU-LITHO" WASHINGTON. DY C- OTTO C. SCHWARZ, OF NEW CHICAGO, INDIANA.

BUILDING-B110 CK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1%15.

Application filed April 11, 1912. Serial No. 690,160.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO C. SCHWARZ, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New Chicago, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Building- Blocks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel artifically surfaced building block for toy houses having a surface thereon to imitate concrete or stone effects.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing z-Figure 1, is a sectional view of a block having a facing embodying my invention with an outer layer of varnish or shellac. Fig. 2, is a similar view with the outer layer omitted.

A toy building block embodying my invention comprises a body 10 made of any suitable durable material, such as wood, a compressed fiber, with one or more of the surfaces covered by a permanent coating which consists of a foundation layer of a suitable binding material 11 that will permanently adhere to the block, a body layer of a granular material 15 which is partially embedded in the foundation layer and an adhesive filling 1A which fills the spaces between individual particles or granules of the body layer and also serves as an additional binder or bond between said particles. The surface or coating so formed may be finally treated with a surface coating of shellac or varnish 12 which gives a suitable finish thereto and also materially aids in preventing the granular particles being rubbed off. The body of the block may have the form of a cube, as in ordinary building blocks, or it may be given various forms to imitate structural details of conventional architecture, such as buildings, castles, bridges and the like.

In producing a toy building block having a surface coating embodying my invention, a foundation coating 11 of a suitable material is applied to the face or faces of the block 10, said material being applied in a liquid state and thereafter allowed to harden. This foundation coating or layer 11 may be silicate of soda, and be applied either by a brush or by dipping the body in a bath of this material. After this foundation layer partially dries or hardens and while yet sticky and of a relatively stiff consistency, a layer of granular material 15, such as sand, finely broken stone, marble or the like, is applied thereto. This granular material may be applied by rolling the body with the partially dried foundation layer ll in the granular material so as to collect a granular coating approximately equal in thickness to one dimension of a particle. Thereafter a filler 14E is applied over the body layer of granular material to fill in the spaces or interstices between individual particles of the body layer 15. This filler layer 14 may consist of glue or like material and may be applied by a brush or by dipping the body thus treated in a bath of such material. Said filling material also acts as a bond to bind the individual particles of the granular coating that extend beyond the foundation layer. After the filler has become perfectly dry, a final finishing layer 12, such as varnish, shellac or a paint is applied to the outer surface of the coating thus formed. When a color different from the natural color of the granular body layer is to be given to the coating such color may be imparted thereto in or as a part of the finishing layer, or colored sand or other granular material may be used for the purpose.

The product resulting from the method or process above described possesses a surface or finish that closely imitates a stone finish or effect, and one in which the granular material constituting the body layer of the coating becomes a permanent part of the body and does not rub off. It is, in fact, as permanent as the surface of a like block made up throughout of a homogeneous granular material.

I claim as my invention As a new article of manufacture an ornamental artificially-surfaced toy building block comprising a body of fibrous material provided with a surface coating made up of a thin foundation coating of an adhesive binding material cohering to said fibrous body, a body layer of finely divided sandlike granular material partially embedded in said adhesive coating, and an adhesive filling superposed on said foundation coating and filling the spaces between individual particles of the sand-like granular material and serving to bind the projecting portions of the same more firmly to each other and t0 the foundation coating, substantially as described.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention Iaaflix my signature in the presence of tWo Witnesses, this 9th day of 7 April, A. D. 1912. 7

one o. SCHWARZ.

Witnesses: i

W. L. HALL, HARRY S. GAITHER.

Commissioner of Patents, 

